South Africa’s Eskom cannot commit to nuclear expansion: acting CFO

January 30, 2018

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s power utility Eskom cannot afford a nuclear power station expansion, acting Eskom chief financial officer Calib Cassim said on Tuesday during the release of its financial results.

South Africa’s government has said it will push ahead with its nuclear expansion plan but will now do so at a slower pace due to weak economic growth. With the only nuclear power station on the continent, South Africa is seeking to expand its nuclear, wind, solar and coal power capacity.

The sole power supplier in Africa’s most industrialised economy’s reported a 34 percent drop in interim profits for the six months ending Sept 30. 2017, down to 6 billion rand ($504 million) due to declining sales and higher finance costs.

New Eskom chairman Jabu Mabuza said the utility would review its cost structure and was considering ways of reducing its indebtedness.

The power utility which has been embroiled in a governance crisis and allegations of undue influence in awarding tenders, said it would address governance concerns and stabilise the firm through its new board.

“We must have credibility, and we must have consistency,” said Mabuza.

The government named a new Eskom board earlier this month, ending a power vacuum that dates back to mid-2017 when then chairman Ben Ngubane resigned and government reversed Eskom’s decision to reinstate Brian Molefe as chief executive..

Reporting by Alexander Winning; Writing by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by James Macharia

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Changing climate change“2040” paints an optimistic picture of the future of the environment

The film focuses on technological and agricultural solutions that are already being implemented to help combat climate change, The Economist Feb 19th 2019

by C.G. | BERLIN ……….In “2040”, a documentary which premiered at the Berlinale, Mr Gameau seeks to wrest hope from the bleak reports of climate change. He was inspired by Project Drawdown, the first comprehensive plan to reverse global warming, and the film is intended as a “virtual letter to his four-year-old daughter to show her an alternative future”. “Many films,” Mr Gameau thinks, are too dystopian, and “paint a future that is really hard to engage and to connect with”. “2040” acknowledges that the Earth has set off down a hazardous path, but focuses on the work that is being done now to steer the right course. What, the film asks, could make 2040 a time worth living in?…. (subscribers only) https://www.economist.com/prospero/2019/02/19/2040-paints-an-optimistic-picture-of-the-future-of-the-environment